Ravens Preparing for Steelers Big 3 — Highsmith, Heyward, Watt

The Ravens beat the Steelers 16-14 in Week 14.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens are preparing for an aggressive Steelers defense, led by three of the league's fiercest players. 

After battling injuries. outside linebacker T.J. Watt is playing at a high level and can take over a game. In Week 15 at Carolina, Watt – appearing in his 84th career game – became the third-fastest player to reach 75.0 NFL sacks since 1982, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White (65 games) and his brother J.J. Watt (83 games).

Nose tackle Cameron Heyward puts pressure on opposing offensive lines and has 8.5 sacks. Heyward was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording seven tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and one pass defensed in Pittsburgh’s 13-10 win over Las Vegas.

Another outside linebacker Alex Highsmith is having his best season and has 12 sacks. Highsmith has recorded five forced fumbles this season, which is the most in the NFL.

"[Highsmith] has become one of the premier pass rushers," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "He has a high number of sacks. They have a lot of great players, but those three pass rushers – they have the two edge players and they’ve got the defensive end – everyone knows who I’m talking about here. So, those three guys are just elite players in the National Football League. I think for Highsmith to put himself in the category with a T.J. Watt and a Cam Heyward, that’s high praise – and he has done that.”

The @Ravens managed to edge the Steelers on the road in the first meeting by playing solid defense and running the football.
They'll stick to the script in the rematch. #RavensFlock https://t.co/XVqk5usum9

— Todd Karpovich (@toddkarpovich) December 28, 2022

The Ravens beat the Steelers 16-14 in Week 14. 

It was Baltimore's defense that set the tone in that game.

Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett was injured on a first-quarter sack by linebacker Roquan Smith, who slammed him into the turf. Pickett was placed in concussion protocol and was replaced by Mitchell Trubisky, who threw three interceptions inside the red zone.

The Ravens also managed to rush for 215 yards against a Steelers defense that is ranked sixth against the run. 

It will be a challenge to do that again. 

“It’s just one of those games," Harbaugh said. "They’ve played really good run defense the past couple weeks [and] throughout the course of the season. [They have] a very physical front, downhill linebackers [and] a lot of really good schemes to stop the run. So, we definitely have our work cut out for us.”